Go on, admit it - you've never forgiven him for not hiring Mr Cusano to widdley-widdle all over these albums, have you?
Have to disagree, both are excellent albums, Buddha is one of my personal favorites of his. Different strokes and all that.
Finally got round to listening to this properly today and really enjoyed it. I love Karma Man, it’s definitely the highlight of the album for me.
Hmmmm.... Enjoyed this, but not quite as much as hoped. I don't love the way the music was produced and mixed. Bowie's voice sounds brittle, there is also occasionally processing on his voice that is grating to me. I can't quite figure out what it is... Everything sounds contained and rather safe/homogeneous. A generous slathering of reverb on most things, even the acoustic songs. It doesn't sound especially bad, but it's not an inspired presentation of the music. These are not necessarily top drawer songs (they sat on a shelf for decades), but still very enjoyable and better than a large sum of later period Bowie. Especially like the more sombre/contemplative/etherial music, Shadow Man was an instant favourite. Karma Man and Conversation Piece were early favourites as well. Really like what the women bring to this. Great vocals/hooks and especially like the subtle violin of Lisa Gerrard. Always love what Mike G brings and wish he was a little more present. Bowie's singing is quite lovely on Toy as well. Have only listened to the 6 songs of record one and three of the unplugged, so lots to go. A real gift for Bowie fans. Oh, there's some beautiful music on Buddha of Suburbia. I look forward to having a vinyl copy.
Unlike some here, I never heard the leaked versions so, other than the live performances from BBC, Toy is new to me. This batch of songs didn't grab me at first, but the whole set is growing on me with each listen. There are earworms to be had. I ended up buying the 10" set and I think Side 11, alone, is worth the price of admission. The perfect version is definitely a mix of the acoustic-ish, Mark Plati's, and a couple of the alternative mixes. I have yet to settle on which.
Agreed. I've taken a couple passes through the entire box, and now my fellow Michigander makes me want to sit down and playlist my fave takes of each track. Anyone like to share theirs to get it started?
The London Boys You've got a habit of Conversation Piece Let me sleep Silly boy blue Liza jane In the Heat of the morning
Shadow Man (Unplugged & somewhat slightly electric mix) I prefer the full Plati mix of this one. Let Me Sleep Beside You (Unplugged & somewhat slightly electric mix) Hole In The Ground (Unplugged & somewhat slightly electric mix) Baby Loves That Way (Unplugged & somewhat slightly electric mix)
Maybe if he had Reeves (second only to Vinnie Vincent as a great noise maker) more involved both albums would be much, much better.
I think you're right. In the absence of official original Toy track listing, I think we'll have to think of what's the smoothest track order we can come up with. Once that's done, I will ask myself which version of which song fits the best. Hope some posters will come up with their best option...
Having listened to it a few times as part of the BA box I'm still convinced on the merits of Toy and (sorry DB) can see why it was shelved by the record company at the time. After the disappointment of hours I think this would have sealed a really quite rotten period for me especially after the highs of his experimental mid-90s stuff. It's fine as a historical curio and I will probably buy the CD box at some point but don't see this as a "proper" Bowie album.
Looks like Sony's equivalent to Dolby Atmos. Since Apple has adopted Atmos Sony has little chance with this one but it may well be possible to convert from one to the other. Tim
This article has some sales information on Toy David Bowie leads 21st century vinyl sales as three albums make chart impact
BTWN seems to me should have been more at home in the previous box. By a long chalk the worst of the albums in Brilliant Adventures
Just finished another spin of "Toy" and it's really getting better and better. If the box wasn't 10" I'd be up for it. As it is I'm going to observe the market and... wait. Once they are drying up I might bite.
Nic Roeg (2018) D.A. Pennebaker (2019) Terry O`Neill (2019) Mick Rock (2021) Steve Schapiro (2022) That`s gotta be a heckuva a photo session for Mr. B`s forthcoming heavenly-made films!
